Top 10 Ways You Know You Stink At Blogging...

10. Your friend says, "So, did you quit blogging?" No... But I can see why you might think that.

9. Your last post was over 6 months ago. 6 months and 7 days to be exact.

8. You were reading a friends blog who said how much she appreciated reading her fellow young mommy bloggers. My friend is currently mid-move with a newborn and a husband out of town on medical rotations. She was talking about how inspiring and uplifting she finds her friends blogs and basically said thank you for sharing. I feel the same way about reading other friends blogs and am not contributing to the upliftment. Let's fix that.

7. You took an awesome trip to Utah and haven't mentioned it. Back in April I went to Utah for a whole week! It was SO fun to see so many friends and family. I got to see Ashley and Brian and visit their darling apartment in Park City. Had delicious Mexican food at this fun place in downtown Park City. Bought them my favorite cherry cordial ice cream and then we visited for a long time after getting home. The next day I slept in and visited my Cappellucci cousins in Bountiful. Laurel and I went shopping for a cute maternity shirt and then we all had dinner and watched a movie/ate ice cream. Kathy got to feel baby boy hiccup and it was SO fun to visit with my cousins! Kathy and I got to go to the amazing Sunshine Cafe for breakfast, then I got to tag along with my cousin Chelsea to a 1-yr old's photo shoot. I've been wanting to get into photography myself - have always LOVED taking pictures - and she showed me the ropes and taught me alot about my camera, how to make cool backdrops, basics with photoshop etc... I went down to BYU to hug Kendall and see Kelsie's freshman dorm. Then I got to meet up with one of my freshmen roommates at Costa Vida - yum! I got to go visit Aubrey, Blair and Brittany and Aubrey and Blair's new house. My sister Katie and bff Renae joined us and we visited for a LONG time. Slumber party at Aubrey's house. Katie and I went to breakfast for all-you-can-eat French Toast and Kneaders. Wouldn't you know I locked the door I wasn't supposed to lock and we were locked out. Insert picture of pregnant woman and sister climbing over the back fence to try and find any window or door that would open. Ended up having to go to Aubrey's work for her extra key. See #6 below. Then cousins Chelsea and Ashlee threw me a baby shower that was TOO CUTE!!! It was airline themed (Justin works for Delta) and every last detail was meticulous in the airline references/color scheme. If anybody wants a cool party - contact Topsy Turvy!!! It was SO FUN to see so many friends and family! My first friend on this planet was there, Jessica Hill, and her mom. Our moms went to pregnancy class together :) There was also a great turnout from Justin's friends, who I now call my own. I'm only sad we can't be out there this Th for Whitney's wedding :( Then Katie and I slumber partied at Chelsea's house, woke up the next morning to some amazing chocolate chip scones, and headed back to the airport. It was an amazing trip that was jam-packed with my favorite Utah foods and favorite Utah people!!!

6. You got maternity pictures taken by the amazing Chelsea Peterson and haven't mentioned it. Chelsea is my cousin and offered to take maternity pictures for me. They turned out WONDERFULLY and I want to be as good as Chelsea is at photography when I grow up. She has such an eye for it and is definitely making a name for herself. Super proud to be related to her!!!

5. You had three baby showers and haven't mentioned them. I mentioned the Utah shower in #7. Then my best friend of over two decades, Ashley Jones (Moote) threw me a shower with her mama in GA. It was a darling Winnie the Pooh theme complete with honeycomb to put on rolls. SO fun to feel loved and showered with gifts. We received so many gifts, we are still so grateful. Then my math department at work threw me a school shower. Again, enormous generosity!! We received the changing table, crip, and play pen we registered for and still had $ leftover to furnish the baby's room. What a blessing!!!

4. Since your last post you found and closed on a home. Back in Jan when we realized how much our rent was going up, we knew we should probably find somewhere else to live so that half Justin's income wasn't housing. After a long time looking, we found one! It was a HUD home (foreclosure) and the process was SO FRUSTRATING for several reasons. I promise that soon we'll do a post just on the house with before/after pictures and more details on buying a home. Long story short, we are homeowners! We were able to do a 15-yr loan and we are SO proud that we can say that!!!

3. Since your last post you decided on a name for your baby that was NOT either of the two names discussed in said post. So this darling little baby came out and did not look like a Mason or a Logan. So we went back to the drawing board and between the two of us came up with Levi Daniel. Definitely fits him. And I feel like it's a good, sturdy, cool name. It did take the whole first day though, so we just called him Little Man and Buddy and Son and stuff until we officially decided on Levi.

2. A baby? Oh yeah, you had a baby. Man, that's a story on its own and one that deserves a decent telling. Long story short, Levi was a week late. We went into the hospital on Thursday night 6/14 to start the induction process. Everyone told me things would be so smooth and that pitocin would just work so great. Levi was born Sunday morning 6/17. I feel cool b/c my cousin Lindsey (L/D nurse) said that my story is the second worse she's ever heard. Are you intruiged? Good. I'll tell you soon.

1. You actually have fun stories of parenthood thus far but haven't shared any of them. And your baby is 3 months old. Levi is just darling and precious and cute. He's a big boy, but his growth seems to be more in the length than the weight. He just started rolling over from stomach to back last week. He's blowing bubbles and actually laughing. He has one big dimple and I think I see another small one. He gives big open-mouthed smiles where you can see his cute little gums. His newborn hair is almost all gone - except for the part that looks like a mullet - and his new soft infant hair is white blonde. It feels like a beanie baby. Levi will sing at you sometimes when you sing to him. He'll take a bottle but doesn't like straight formula. He used to poop or pee on you EVERY SINGLE DIAPER CHANGE. Luckily he grew out of that. He LOVES baths. He pooped all over Justin at his first doctor's appt. Then he did it again 3 days later at his weight check. It was the same nurse and she actually remembered him from 3 days prior. Levi loves music and it can calm him when he's fussy. He loves to be thrown into the air. Sleeping between all his feedings at night - goes to bed by 8pm. His longest stretch on record is 11 1/2 hours. Only happened once. But he'll go about 8 hrs every night and then 3 or 4 hour chunks until about 7:30/8am when he's awake for good. His napping schedule changes daily, it feels, but he takes one long nap each day. What a joy and blessing and delight!

I will try to never have the need to write a top ten list like this again. Hopefully I'll post again soon with pictures and details for all of the above. Yay life!!!!